Unless you loathe Christmas music, it’s impossible to be a Grinch about last night’s episode of Glee. They did a good job at capturing the seasonal spirit without going overboard into cheesy territory. Okay, so maybe a little cheesy. But we’ve come to expect that from the show.
In last night’s holiday special, Sue Sylvester rigs Secret Santa and ruins everything. We also learn that Brittany still believes in Santa Claus, and Artie tries his best to shield her from the truth. Rachel desperately attempts to win back Finn. And then some gay boys sing together! Yup, that’s pretty much all you need to know.
– Dewitt
To watch the episode, hear the songs and read more, follow the JUMP:
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FULL EPISODE:
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The Most Wonderful Day of The Year (Full Cast): The episode opens with the members of New Directions wrapping gifts and decorating a Christmas tree. They sing this tune from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, drawing a parallel between themselves and the Island of Misfit Toys.
This was a particularly appropriate selection for Glee‘s holiday extravaganza. I mean, duh, the characters have been painted as outcasts since the beginning of the show. Who better to compare them to than a bunch of unloved toys? With that said, I’m deducting a half point for the overly cheery exclamation of “We’re misfits”. Too much, too much! (4 Points)
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We Need A Little Christmas (Full Cast): Schuester suggests caroling to raise money for a local charity. Though the students initially express hesitance towards the idea, Finn encourages them to get on board. Unfortunately, their fellow students at McKinley High aren’t too keen on mid-day caroling…
I have one rule in life and one rule only–never fuck with Angela Lansbury. As much as I can appreciate Amber Riley’s efforts, this rendition’s a little more Kidz Bop than Broadway diva. An extra half point rewarded for cutting this one off within the episode. (2.5 Points)
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Merry Christmas Darling (Lea Michele): Rachel invites Finn to the auditorium to give him her Christmas gift. Not so surprisingly, it’s a song! Finn’s still upset about the whole Puck matter, so he leaves before he even hears it.
Once again, this can’t hold a torch to the original version, but it worked within the context of the episode. It’s always nice when Rachel does her moody solo numbers. And by “nice”, I mean totally fucking depressing. (3 Points)
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Baby, It’s Cold Outside (Chris Colfer & Darren Criss): Blaine booked a gig singing “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”, and he asks Kurt to rehearse with him. This obviously leads to lots of cuteness and sexual tension. Well, maybe we’re just imagining the sexual tension…
This sequence was entirely unnecessary to the plotline, aside from providing Schuester an opportunity to ask Kurt for shopping advice. But there are adorable boys singing and falling in love! You can’t deny that it’s a little sweet. Come on! Just a little. (4 Points)
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You’re A Mean One, Sue the Grinch (k.d. lang): The other teachers opt to take back their Secret Santa gifts and donate them to the homeless. Ms. Sylvester isn’t very fond of this idea, so she grabs her trusty cheerleader Becky, dons some green makeup and… well, steals Christmas.
No disrespect to Matthew Morrison, but the recorded version of this song is lacking a bit of “oomph”. Although we’re not necessarily mad at k.d. lang for her vocal contribution, we would have preferred hearing Jane Lynch tackle this song. (3 Points)
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Last Christmas (Lea Michele & Cory Monteith): As part of Rachel’s scheme to win back her boyfriend, she takes Finn to shop for a new Christmas tree. OMG, her favorite Christmas song is playing on the radio! They obviously sing it together in the middle of the lot, and then she leans in for the kiss…
What big episode of Glee would be complete without a duet between Lea Michele and Cory Monteith? Thankfully, they’ve toned down their roles in the second season, but we wish they’d start dating again and go back to being vaguely boring characters. Or they could just break-up for good. I mean, do their voices really match with one another? (3 Points)
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Welcome Christmas (Full Cast): Look, the choir’s performing in the teachers’ lounge! And they like it because they’re not adolescent assholes! Sue hears them down the hallway, so she has a change of heart and invites them all over to Schuester’s living room. Which isn’t creepy at all. Really.
Maybe I’m just a whore for Dr. Seuss, but this put a few tears in my eyes. It was a rare moment when Glee wasn’t about a particular individual hogging the spotlight, and the cast sounded lovely together. However, I’m deducting a half point for the shameless name-dropping of the show. (4.5 Points)
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BREAKDOWN OF POINTS SYSTEM:
- 5 Points = Excellent or exceeding expectations in regards to vocal performance, choreography and arrangement. Fits well within the context of the episode, and potentially better than the original version.
- 4 Points = Not too shabby! May not be entirely on par with the original, but a fantastic effort by the actors and vocalists.
- 3 Points = Tolerable. Did not induce eye rolls or kept them to a minimum.
- 2 Points = Could be a variety of factors, including poor song choice or lackluster performance. Boring or uninspired. May be an insult to the original artist.
- 1 Point = Absolutely painful. Couldn’t wait for it to be over.
Yes Dewitt. Chris and Darren were as adorable as we all hoped they would be! I so wanted them to kiss. Sigh. And I guess you are trying to get in the Christmas spirit. You managed only to give Corey the back of your hand without a full bash. Generous of you in this holiday season! But chin up. There is always next time. HoHoHo
I suppose now that Kurt is in another school we will see less of him in the story lines. Actually except for two scenes we hardly saw him last night, same goes for last week.
Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is a naked Chord Overstreet with a bow wrapped around his cock under my tree. And you could put Mark Salling in my stocking. I’ve been a good little boy this year 🙂
Glee was too sugary
am i seriously the only one who can’t stand lea michelle’s voice? she is painfully unimpressive, and having her force-fed to use every episode got old a full year ago
WHY didn’t ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’ get a full 5pts!? It was the best song of the night! I was having a full-on eargasm through the whole song. It was in the perfect key for them, Kurt’s voice worked perfectly for the female part, and when Darren Criss went to his falsetto for the final few chords, my heart literally melted out of my ass!
I completely agree about ‘Welcome Christmas’. The whole time I thought it deserved a full 5pts as well, until they dropped “Glee” into the lyrics, and it made me want to puke all over my walls. I’m definitely okay with the 4.5pts. However, no one can argue that it wasn’t a GREAT arrangement. 🙂
Dewitt, the rules should be, no Glee updates unless it involves shirtless screen grabs.
i got a kick out of how Sue’s lackey Becky was licking her candy cane! god, i’m such a letch!
–T
Thanksgiving has more meaning, and, this is just too gay, for me ! lol
Ho Ho Ho Happy New Year to ALL !!!
I cannot be the only one who is still incredulous about the Glee crew considering themselves hopeless outsiders. They’re all, for the most part, extraordinarily talented and attractive. If I went to that high school, I would be proud that I wasn’t like the rest of that hoard. It’s freaking Lima, Ohio! I can’t take it seriously anymore, even though it probably won’t keep me from watching it.
On another note, the song selection was above par.
I can’t say I agree with giving ‘Baby, it’s Cold Outside’ an inflated 4 stars. Now don’t get me wrong. I think Colfer and Criss are both talented vocalists. Their rendition of ‘Baby, it’s Cold Outside’ left me, pardon the pun, cold. It’s a competent performance, but when you’re used to hearing a song performed by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald or Louis Armstrong (and many other superstars in the last 60+ years) it just take a little extra to be memorable. I know some may think that’s unfair, especially in light of the recent Get Happy/Happy Days are Here Again duet: surely Michelle/Colfer is not comparable to Streisand/Garland? But that duet is an obvious homage, down to the costuming and positioning of the performers. I took the Criss/Colfer duet as a ‘straight up’ performance, and regrettably it was rather flat and uninteresting. Even the alleged sexual tension cannot save that scene for me.
I can’t say I agree with giving ‘Baby, it’s Cold Outside’ an inflated 4 stars. Now don’t get me wrong. I think Colfer and Criss are both talented vocalists. Their rendition of ‘Baby, it’s Cold Outside’ left me, pardon the pun, cold. It’s a competent performance, but when you’re used to hearing a song performed by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald or Louis Armstrong (and many other superstars in the last 60+ years) it just take a little extra to be memorable. I know some may think that’s unfair, especially in light of the recent Get Happy/Happy Days are Here Again duet: surely Michelle/Colfer is not comparable to Streisand/Garland? But that duet is an obvious homage, down to the costuming and positioning of the performers. I took the Criss/Colfer duet as a ‘straight up’ performance, and regrettably it was rather flat and uninteresting. Even the alleged sexual tension cannot save that scene for me.
The version of “Baby, it’s Cold Outside” that is on the soundtrack album is better…they cut out the verse where he sings that his “lips look delicious” on TV. Guess that you can’t have two boys singing that to each other on prime-time TV, LOL.
I was oh so pleased with the whole episode, and didn’t need to yell at the TV for not including the Baby it’s Cold Outside number. 😀
I will say I was a bit irked they didn’t include the “lips” section of the song… I mean, we can have the boys sing about making and drinking alcomohols, but we can’t have them sing about Kurt’s lips being delicious?
Though, the last line, almost a throw away, as Blaine walks away “You’re certainly better than that girl they have me singing with…” was adorable. 🙂
All in all, lovely break down. Thanks, Dewitt. 😀
I do agree that Colfer/Criss are no Fitzgerald/Armstrong, but for what it was, it was excellent. If they had ramped up the playfulness, or added that bit of dirty to Blaine’s voice/performance, it would have taken it closer to the standard, but in context, I think they went just far enough. Blaine is supposedly practicing the song with Kurt so he can perform it with some girl for some gig. The amount of playfulness was appropriate to that.
Now, before the episode aired, I was expecting the scene to be more along the lines that Blaine invited Kurt over to study, and suddenly there was a surge in the snow, a sudden blizzard if you will, and Kurt wanted to go home… cue “Baby it’s cold.” The two boys would have been all alone, room for more of the tension, playfulness, and then the lips line could have been included… maybe with an actual kiss.
I feel like I’m the only one who doesn’t really feel any romantic tension between Kurt and Blaine–their voices mesh very well together, but I’ve seen that kind of playfulness before. I really think that Blaine is more of a friend than anything and will remain a friend: maybe it’s just because Darren Criss is straight, but I’m really not feeling any kind of love beyond friendship from Blaine for Kurt. Kurt obviously has a crush on Blaine, but I think Blaine is a tease if anything. Or maybe he’s trying to make Kurt feel welcome the only way he can–with music.
I was very pleased with this episode, I cried at the end, and it was a Brittany episode which made me love it more, I do have to say though that I don’t want Kurt and Blaine together, I want Korofsky to apologize, come out, and Kurt and him to go out, he is so cute.
I was very pleased with this episode, I cried at the end, and it was a Brittany episode which made me love it more, I do have to say though that I don’t want Kurt and Blaine together, I want Korofsky to apologize, come out, and Kurt and him to go out, he is so cute.